A/N 1: Last week I asked via my LJ to be challenged with drabbles and ficlet ideas. The wonderful Ria was so nice to challenge me first. I originally wanted to write this one as a big smut scene, but eventually this one moved into an entirely different direction.

Ria's challenge: "Kathryn, how did this end up behind your couch?!"

A big thank you to Sira for providing her thoughts to this one and to Elem for doing – again – a wonderful beta job!

Thanks a bunch!

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

A Journey's End

"Kathryn, how did this end up behind your couch?!" Phoebe asked, holding up a flimsy slip between two fingers.

"Uhm, what?" Kathryn turned back to her sister, a blush creeping up her cheeks when she noticed what her sister was holding. Taking a step forward, she tried to snatch it from Phoebe's hand, but her sister deftly stepped away, keeping it out of Kathryn's reach.

"Tell me! Tell me! Who was it and was it fun?" Her sister teased her and started to dance around Kathryn's quarters, the slip still dangling from her outstretched hand.

And while Kathryn chased her sister through her quarters - her home for the last seven years - she remembered the previous night and when she'd realised, yet again, how special the people around her were.

The night before…

Standing in her quarters, Kathryn watched the now familiar stars drift past her viewport and even though this was the sight she had worked for so hard to achieve over the last seven years, she now felt rather lost and out of place. Shouldn't she be happy? Shouldn't she be with her crew in the mess hall, on the holodeck or just walking the corridors, celebrating, laughing and dancing with her fellow Voyagers? Shouldn't she?

The door chime brought her out of her melancholic thoughts. Without bothering to turn though, she bid her visitor enter. She knew who it was anyway.

The doors opened, and the tall figure hovered for a fraction of a second in the doorway. He searched the dark room for her before he entered. Slowly making his way over to Kathryn, he stood behind her, waiting to see if she would acknowledge him in any way. When she turned her head ever so slightly, he chose to speak.

"I wish you would stop doing that."

This time she turned her head with a questioning look in her eyes.

"I wish you would stop doing all that thinking and just for once live for the day," he clarified with a sigh.

"Shouldn't you be elsewhere, celebrating with your wife?" Kathryn asked, keeping her gaze on the dark space in front of her window.

"Yes, I should," he admitted with a nod, "but I thought maybe you'd need a friend…"

"Am I that predictable?" Kathryn gave a low chuckle.

"Most of the time, yes," he gave a small laugh.

Kathryn only nodded once and then made her way over to the replicator. "Can I get you something?" She offered him, before she ordered a coffee for herself.

"No, thank you," he shook his head, and watched how she slowly made her way back to her couch and sat down before motioning him to join her. They sat in silence for some moments, while she sipped at the hot beverage.

Eventually, she gave a long sigh and leaned back into the cushions, cradling her cup in her hands.

"You know, just before you showed up, I was thinking about how I happy I should be. But I can't seem to stop thinking about how this community will break apart now. Of course, we'll try to stay in contact, we'll have get–togethers, there'll be anniversaries and reunions, but eventually everyone will move on, and it saddens me that I won't be a part of that anymore.

He nodded and simply took one of her hands in his. He didn't know what to say, so he kept quiet, simply giving her an ear for her musings.

"Starfleet still hasn't decided on the whole Maquis issue." She snorted. "Can you believe that? For the last one and a half years, I've been sending reports about them - about my crew - and still they can't decide, or maybe just won't, tell me what they think. All they say is 'we need more information'. More information, my ass!"

She snorted at his baffled expression. "What? Just because you haven't heard me swear over the last seven years, doesn't mean I don't do it! My ancestors are Irish, don't forget that!"

She saluted him with her coffee cup, and now he was wondering if the drink was spiked.

"You know what really pisses…," she grimaced again. "Sorry, I mean, what really annoys me?"

Again, he kept quiet.

"That Starfleet, the Federation and all the citizens of the Alpha Quadrant think that for us the last seven years were a stroll in the park. While they were busy with the Dominion War, we were far, far away in the unknown regions of the Delta Quadrant, doing a bit of exploring and making some first contacts," she waved her hands in front of her, and a few droplets of her coffee fell on the couch and his pants. She didn't seem to notice though.

"They haven't a clue how it was to be without help - completely alone - not knowing in the morning if you'd survive the damned day or be shot down by lunchtime by some nasty alien of the week."

"But it wasn't all bad, Kathryn," he softly reminded her. "We also had a lot of fun, remember Queen Arachnia? Boy, I would pay good gold pressed latinum to see you in that dress again," he said with a dreamy look on his face, but ducked to the side, when she playfully slapped his head.

"In your dreams, in your dreams…But you're right, we did have some fun out there, too. And I'll miss that camaraderie deeply. It was special, and very few captains have had the honor to serve with such an amazing crew. I think I've said that far too seldomly, but I'm very proud of each and every one of you," she patted his knee. "Especially you, Tom; and your father is too, he always has been, he just wasn't able to tell you."

"Thank you," Tom took her hand again. "It's good to hear that, even though it's from someone else."

Both looked up when the doors of her quarters opened and Chakotay entered. Tom stood and crossed the room, coming to a halt in front of his former commander.

Remembering the rocky beginning of their journey, he stood straight and saluted him.

Chakotay seemed confused at first, but after a moment, he grasped Tom's intention and brought his hand to his temple, too. Both let their hands slowly drop and, without another word but with a final pat on Chakotay's shoulder, Tom left his captain's quarters.

Chakotay quietly made his way over to Kathryn and took the vacant spot Tom had occupied earlier. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close and she snuggled into his embrace.

"I wish you would stop doing that," he echoed the words Tom had spoken earlier.

"I wish you wouldn't be such a mother hen," she chided him with a chuckle. "Did you send Tom to occupy me or did he do that on his own?"

"No, he did that all by himself," Chakotay answered, taking the now empty coffee cup out of her hand and placing it on the small table in front of them, before they both leaned back again.

"He's a good man," Kathryn declared. "He's come a long way."

"Yes, he has," Chakotay agreed.

He turned and gently pushed her deeper into the soft cushions. His mouth hovered over hers for one or two seconds, before he lowered his lips to hers in a gentle kiss.

A soft sigh escaped Kathryn, and her hands wandered up his back into his short hair, pulling him closer to her.

"Welcome home, Kathryn," he whispered as he started to pull down the zipper of her uniform jacket.

~ fin ~

A/N 2: Tehee….yeah it ends there!!! *evil grin*

2009-08-17